Are you feeling those clothes fit a little too tight, or have you moved to a new belt hole? Winter is over now, but typically those months cause a battle of the bulge and it’s the same with your four-legged family members.

16 Saturday Morning’s Pet Vet, Dr. David Visser, has some tips to help your pets with their growing waistline.

Pet obesity is a common problem, especially at this time of year. It doesn’t come as much of a surprise; as pet owners have less activity, their pets often suffer secondary inactivity. Then, along with a pet’s natural tendency to build-up fat stores, we often end up with overweight pets.

Obesity can lead to several significant health conditions:

• If there is more body than there is insulin to handle it, pets can develop diabetes. Simply stated, the pancreas, which makes insulin, becomes exhausted.
  
• Extra weight also places extra burden on bones and joints, resulting in arthritis or other joint conditions.
  
• Similarly, the heart becomes stressed, which can lead to failure. The liver, particularly in cats, becomes so full of fatty substances, that there isn’t any part of the liver to actually do its work.
  
• These overweight pets are silently suffering, and have a poor quality of life, often having a shortened life span.

Weight gain related to food excess is the most common cause of obesity. Really, it is one of the most common diseases of pets when you call it by its real name -- a form of malnutrition.

There are several other causes that deserve equal attention, for example, a sedentary lifestyle prevents a dog or cat from having the opportunity to burn off extra calories. This inactivity slows metabolism down.

Another serious problem with obesity is that we’re so used to seeing it that we forget the extra weight could be a sign of a more serious condition like thyroid or adrenal disease. That can only delay an important diagnosis by your veterinarian.

So what can you do to help?

• For mildly overweight pets, increasing exercise can be very helpful. Purposeful activity keeps the metabolic fire burning.
  
• It is also important to avoid the empty calories of table scraps.
  
• In the same manner, choose pet treats that are good for the teeth, but limit them to just one or two per day.
  
• And, low calorie food is essential if pets are starting to tip the scales.

Notice, that says low calorie food and not “light” food. A recent study at Tufts University evaluated 100 commercially available diets with weight management claims, and the results were shocking; they showed that more than half of those diets had more calories than the standard level for “light” diets.

If your pet is actually suffering from obesity there are several steps you can take as well. For starters, talk to your veterinarian about an individualized weight loss plan – it’s not always a battle. In addition to verifiable prescription weight loss diets, there is a new appetite suppressant medication for dogs called Slentrol. You can feed normal pet food, but your dog feels satisfied with a relaxed appetite instead of hounding for more to eat all the time.

If you want to contact the Pet Vet, Dr. David Visser, you can reach him at the Roseland Animal Hospital by calling 574-272-6100 or at the Center for Animal Health by calling 888-PETS-VETS.

You can also shoot him an email at MichianaPetVet@comcast.net.